I grew up being told that Columbus was the best example of the Italian that done good. My mother was of 100% Italian heritage and her parents and grandmother (my grandfather and both of my grandmother's parents were born in Italy) lived with the family while I grew up. Reality has set in and tarnished this point of view. He actively supported the enslavement of the indigenous people of the New World and approved the genocide of some tribes when they refused to acquiesce to enslavement and / or conversion. Columbus lived during the time of the Inquisition and actively supported their anti-Semitic activities. The Knights of Columbus was founded on the premises that the actions of Columbus and the Inquisition were of some higher calling.

An accurate clock was all he needed not to be so screwed up about the size of Earth; this would not come for another 150-200 years. He was incapable of learning from past errors and that's how Native Americans ended up being called "Indians."

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

Hmm, our token Democrat in this area is a proud member of the Knights of Columbus.

Who is it that wrote the book about the people's histroy of the United States...he brings us an America we don't want to look at. History from the losers viewpoint. Columbus didn't come off well in that book at all!

It is hard to hear viewpoints we don't want to believe. I used to believe the Scotch (my heritage) were exaulted people. They aren't! Rude, crude and dangerous.

We are who we are. Not having an unbelievable symbol to guide us doesn't make our own efforts any less important. Life is a struggle. Those who manage to care about the other guy as well as himslef are people to be admired, period!

Who is it that wrote the book about the people's history of the United States...he brings us an America we don't want to look at. History from the losers viewpoint. Columbus didn't come off well in that book at all!

That would be Howard Zinn. He is despised by a lot of his peers for having the audacity to recount history of the point of view of those it was DONE TO instead of done by. I much prefer these labels to winners and losers.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

I am very surprised that Mr. Zinn actually found enough evidence to write a history of what was done to which group of people. (A great book that looks at the Battle of Little Bighorn from the perspective of the native Americans is Little Bighorn Remembered by Herman Viola)

Can you imagine what it will be like for historians in the future trying to find out exactly what it was Bush said and when he said it? Of course, what does it matter? According to Bush, history is about as worthless as the Constitution. After all, "we'll be dead" when history judges the Bush admin.

If you have a few minutes, I really suggest reading the article that Catherine posted the link to above, it is an incredible article and well worth the time:
Columbus Day - As Rape Rules Africa and American Churches Embrace Violent ‘Christian’ Video Games

_________________You can sing the praises of women all day long, but as long as you put a fertilized egg ahead of [their] welfare, you do not really care about them.-Dori 4/07

. . . While Columbus once referred to the Taino Indians as cannibals, a story made up by Columbus - which is to this day still taught in some US schools - to help justify his slaughter and enslavement of these people. He wrote to the Spanish monarchs in 1493: “It is possible, with the name of the Holy Trinity, to sell all the slaves which it is possible to sell…Here there are so many of these slaves, and also brazilwood, that although they are living things they are as good as gold…”

Columbus and his men also used the Taino as sex slaves: it was a common reward for Columbus’ men for him to present them with local women to rape. As he began exporting Taino as slaves to other parts of the world, the sex-slave trade became an important part of the business, as Columbus wrote to a friend in 1500: “A hundred castellanoes (a Spanish coin) are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten (years old) are now in demand.”. . .

. . . Dr. Jack Forbes, Professor of Native American Studies at the University of California at Davis and author of the brilliant book “Columbus and Other Cannibals,” uses the Native American word wétiko (pronounced WET-ee-ko) to describe the collection of beliefs that would produce behavior like that of Columbus. Wétiko literally means “cannibal,” and Forbes uses it quite intentionally to describe these standards of culture: we “eat” (consume) other humans by destroying them, destroying their lands, taking their natural resources, and consuming their life-force by enslaving them either physically or economically. The story of Columbus and the Taino is just one example.

We live in a culture that includes the principle that if somebody else has something we need, and they won’t give it to us, and we have the means to kill them to get it, it’s not unreasonable to go get it, using whatever force we need to. . . .

Article was written by Thom Hartmann, one of the few good guys of talk radio. I thought that by excerpting a few paragraphs it would encourage some to actually go read it. Remember, this is the same thinking that leads us to continue the war crimes that are the occupation of Iraq.

_________________“I'm not a member of any organized party. I'm a Democrat.”-Will Rogers

We live in a culture that includes the principle that if somebody else has something we need, and they won’t give it to us, and we have the means to kill them to get it, it’s not unreasonable to go get it, using whatever force we need to. .

That is because far too many Americans feel so superior as the "last remaining Super Power." It's a sense of entitlement...we're AMERICANS! We're BETTER, STRONGER, SMARTER, NASTIER, and we'll BOMB YOU TO KINGDOM COME IF YOU DON'T DO AS WE SAY...now give us your lunch money."

Spain was a very powerful nation during Columbus's time and his bringing back to Spain much wealth from the New World only made them more powerful.

Quote:

The Catholic MonarchsIsabel and Ferdinand succeeded in uniting the whole country under their crown, and their effort to "re-christianize" Spain resulted in the Spanish Inquisition, when thousands of Jews and Moors who didn't want to convert to Christianism were expelled or killed.After the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 tons of gold and silver were brought in from the new continent, and Spain became one of the most powerful nations of this epoch called the Golden Age.